Consumeristhttp://consumerist.com
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 20:09:16 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://0.gravatar.com/blavatar/498da4a1827c0de26bc1854d0c809a17?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngConsumeristhttp://consumerist.com
What We Know About AT&T/DirecTV’s Proposed Wireless Broadband Servicehttp://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/what-we-know-about-attdirectvs-proposed-wireless-broadband-service/
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/what-we-know-about-attdirectvs-proposed-wireless-broadband-service/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 20:06:11 +0000http://consumerist.com/?p=10197481Last fall, an AT&T exec claimed that if his company was allowed to merge with DirecTV it could deploy some sort of wireless data service that delivered around 15Mbps to rural customers, but since then there has been very little talk of what this service would actually look like or how and where it would be deployed. But a … [More]]]>Last fall, an AT&T exec claimed that if his company was allowed to merge with DirecTV it could deploy some sort of wireless data service that delivered around 15Mbps to rural customers, but since then there has been very little talk of what this service would actually look like or how and where it would be deployed. But a dig through regulatory filings on the merger turns up a little more info.

For some rural consumers, satellite broadband has been one of the few options for getting online. But satellite service has traditionally been expensive and included restrictive data caps that severely limit its use for data-heavy services like streaming video. There is also a latency issue with satellite that prevents many users from accessing VPNs, so many people who work from home can’t use satellite service.

So the good news is that AT&T’s plan is not just slapping the AT&T brand on a satellite broadband offering. Instead, it plans on deploying what’s known as wireless local loop (WLL) technology, which is basically using dedicated wireless spectrum to carry broadband back and forth between a box on the user’s home and one on a nearby cell tower.

2. AT&T Says It’s Not Just Wireless Hotspots For Your Home

The above description may sound no different than what you’d get from using an LTE hotspot from AT&T (or Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint), but the company claims this is “not merely a version of ‘best efforts’ mobile broadband service for the home.”

AT&T promises in the filing that the WLL service will “provide consumers with a robust broadband experience, with speeds and usage comparable, and typically superior to, the best wireline services available in the areas in which the fixed WLL solution will be deployed.”

The last part of that sentence is important, because the company is targeting rural areas, some of which only offer slower DSL service.

The FCC revision wouldn’t prevent AT&T from marketing the service as broadband, but it means that the deployment of even 20Mbps — which is five times more than the previous FCC broadband definition — would still mean that affected areas are without access to what the Commission considers the standard.

4. Speeds Will Vary By Location

Whether or not you get the full 15-20Mbps depends on how close you are to a WLL tower, with speeds slowing as you reach the edges of coverage areas.

However, AT&T claims that “even customers at the cell edge will experience speeds greater than 10Mbps more than 90% of the time.” But take that with a grain of salt as it’s based on lab testing and not real-world deployment.

5. Speed Will Also Vary Depending On Time Of Day

Even though the WLL service will use a dedicated slice of spectrum, that slice still needs to be shared among the local users. So speeds will be at their best during off-peak hours. Of course, when that peak comes will entirely depend on the web-browsing habits of the people in your immediate area.

6. What About Data Caps?

Here’s one question that AT&T won’t yet put a number on, but which will be incredibly important for people considering the WLL service.

AT&T and other wireless data providers love data caps and tiered pricing plans and most consumers can only afford plans covering 2GB-10GB/month. Meanwhile, even the wireline broadband companies that do employ usage caps usually raise the bar significantly higher — between 250GB and 500GB/month — before penalizing users.

All the filing says on the matter is that AT&T “expects the product to be offered with a usage allowance high enough to readily satisfy most customers’ needs.”

The questions is whether the company is basing that usage level based on wireless customers’ usage (which typically ranges in 2-3GB/month range) or in the typical usage of a home with multiple connected devices that can rack up hundreds of gigabytes each month streaming and downloading movies, TV shows, music, books, and games.

7. How Many People Will Have Access?

AT&T is committing to deploying the WLL service in mostly rural areas in 48 states, covering about 13 million households that could sign up.

Because of congestion concerns, most of the areas served by WLL will have fewer than 250 people per square mile.

According to the filing, about 20% of the 13 million households currently have no access to broadband while another 27% only have one option, usually DSL.

8. Do I Need To Be An AT&T Or DirecTV Customer To Get This?

Obviously the goal here is to give DirecTV a marketable broadband offering for millions of its rural customers, and for AT&T to bundle up Internet/TV/voice services for customers, but there doesn’t appear to be anything in the filing that requires WLL customers also be satellite or cellphone customers of either company beforehand.

As mentioned above, the service isn’t using your satellite dish and it’s using a different swath of wireless spectrum than your phone, so there doesn’t seem to be any reason customers of Dish or Verizon couldn’t also get the WLL service.

AT&T claims in the document that 85% of the areas it intends to target are not currently serviced by its landline phone operation.

9. Can’t AT&T Just Do This On Its Own?

The answer is yes, and the company acknowledges as much in the filing. However, AT&T contends that deploying a WLL network of this scale is too expensive of a risk to take without the additional revenue it’s going to be getting via the DirecTV acquisition. Additionally, being able to offer bundled services makes it easier to market the product to consumers rather than trying to sell standalone broadband access.

10. What We Don’t Know

This item could get lengthy, so let’s just keep it to the big ones:
• Price: While we imagine the WLL service will be priced comparable to what consumers pay for wireline broadband, there’s no way of saying that for certain right now.

• Timeline: AT&T says it has made the commitment, but it’s not going to build out any new network until after the merger is done. Even then, we still have no idea how rapidly the company will be able to deploy the service.

• Data Caps: There is the slight hint mentioned above, but without even vague usage numbers, we have very little to go on.

• Whether others will follow: If a combined AT&T and DirecTV are able to make a profit off the WLL service, you can expect that Dish would once again be courted by several wireless companies looking to offer something similar to that satellite service’s rural customers. It would also behoove Dish to get involved as it would give rural American easier access to over-the-top standalone TV streaming services like Dish’s Sling TV.

]]>http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/what-we-know-about-attdirectvs-proposed-wireless-broadband-service/feed/0deathstarvanachrismorranconsumeristAmazon Reportedly Adds “Ship To Cuba” Option In Preparation For Restored Diplomatic Tieshttp://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/amazon-reportedly-adds-ship-to-cuba-option-in-preparation-for-restored-diplomatic-ties/
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/amazon-reportedly-adds-ship-to-cuba-option-in-preparation-for-restored-diplomatic-ties/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 20:03:36 +0000http://consumerist.com/?p=10197488If it wasn’t enough that Americans traveling to Cuba might now be able to bring back Cuban rum and cigars from their travels, those in Cuba may soon be able to order goods from Amazon, or at least get things shipped to them.

Reuters reports that the online retailer appears to be laying the groundwork to ship packages to … [More]

]]>http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/amazon-reportedly-adds-ship-to-cuba-option-in-preparation-for-restored-diplomatic-ties/feed/0ashleekielerconsumerist(Jeffrey) California Suing Wine Bottle Maker Over Claims That It Uses Glass Containing Toxic Materialshttp://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/california-suing-wine-bottle-maker-over-claims-that-it-uses-glass-containing-toxic-materials/
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/california-suing-wine-bottle-maker-over-claims-that-it-uses-glass-containing-toxic-materials/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:45:03 +0000http://consumerist.com/?p=10197485While acknowledging that a California glass company isn’t necessarily posing any threat to consumers with its actions, state officials are suing a Modesto business that it says recycles hazardous materials illegally and includes them in new wine bottles.

Gallo Glass Co. in Modesto, CA is the target of a lawsuit made public yesterday by authorities in California, reports the Modesto … [More]

While acknowledging that a California glass company isn’t necessarily posing any threat to consumers with its actions, state officials are suing a Modesto business that it says recycles hazardous materials illegally and includes them in new wine bottles.

Gallo Glass Co. in Modesto, CA is the target of a lawsuit made public yesterday by authorities in California, reports the Modesto Bee.

Though officials point out they don’t know if there’s any threat to consumers, the suit alleges that the the plant illegally recycled hazardous dust containing toxic substances like lead, arsenic, cadmium and selenium, which are byproducts of bottle making.

“We have no evidence that consuming wine (from those bottles) poses a health threat,” said the deputy director of the State Department of Toxic Substances Control.

There wouldn’t be any danger even if the bottles broke, the agency’s enforcement supervisor added. But the agency thinks the dust substance should be sent to a landfill, and says Gallo illegally stored it in an unpermitted tank.

Recycling the “precipitate,” as Gallo Glass calls it, is done in a way that the company says meets the highest federal standard for safe packaging, according to its website. Putting material in landfills is also “in direct conflict with California’s recycling goals,” the company said in a statement.

“The lawsuit has no merit,” Gallo Glass said in the statement, adding that it prides itself on employing “environmentally-friendly sustainable practices which the state is inexplicably challenging in this lawsuit.”

]]>http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/california-suing-wine-bottle-maker-over-claims-that-it-uses-glass-containing-toxic-materials/feed/0marybethquirkconsumerist(Ninja M.)Ad Watchdog Says Sprint Should Stop Calling Itself ‘New’ And ‘Improved’http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/ad-watchdog-says-sprint-should-stop-calling-itself-new-and-improved/
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/ad-watchdog-says-sprint-should-stop-calling-itself-new-and-improved/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:37:16 +0000http://consumerist.com/?p=10197471Is Sprint really the U.S. carrier with an all-new network infrastructure and the most improved customer service in the industry? Their ads would have you think so, but competitor T-Mobile complained to the self-regulating watchdogs over at the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council. Here’s what they found out after investigating the claims that Sprint makes in its ads.

Is Sprint really the U.S. carrier with an all-new network infrastructure and the most improved customer service in the industry? Their ads would have you think so, but competitor T-Mobile complained to the self-regulating watchdogs over at the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council. Here’s what they found out after investigating the claims that Sprint makes in its ads.

What are those claims? Here are a few that T-Mobile cited in their complaint:

“Now is the time to try America’s Newest Network. Why? Because at Sprint, when we say America’s Newest network, we mean a brand new network. We started from the ground up and built an all-new network that now delivers faster speeds and better call quality.”

“Sprint is the most improved U.S. company in customer satisfaction, across all 43 industries, over the last six years.”

Of course, anyone who watches ads critically knows that “most improved U.S. company in customer satisfaction” probably means that company has gone from bad to merely mediocre. NAD’s analysis shows that even that isn’t true in the case of Sprint: while the company’s customer service ratings with the ACSI went up from 2008 to 2011, this figure conveniently ignores ratings since 2011. It will probably not surprise you that Sprint’s customer service rating has gone down during that period, which is conveniently left out of the statistic.

What about the claims that the network is new, though? While Sprint has been working hard to upgrade its network for the last few years, alienating current customers in the process, they’ve been upgrading it. Using words like “new” and “from the ground up” implies that Sprint tossed out the entire old network and started over from nothing. While Sprint’s LTE service has vastly improved, that doesn’t make it new.

In a statement, Sprint told NAD that it would take the group’s findings into consideration for future ads.

]]>http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/ad-watchdog-says-sprint-should-stop-calling-itself-new-and-improved/feed/0consumerlaura(Will Middelar)Dick’s Sporting Goods Ditching Some Adidas Merchandise In Favor Of New Celebrity Linehttp://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/dicks-sporting-goods-ditching-some-adidas-merchandise-in-favor-of-new-celebrity-line/
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/dicks-sporting-goods-ditching-some-adidas-merchandise-in-favor-of-new-celebrity-line/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:53:50 +0000http://consumerist.com/?p=10197474The Adidas section at your local Dick’s Sporting Goods stores might seem a bit smaller soon, as the company has decided to hitch its apple wagon to a celebrity star and turn the spotlight on its new line of women’s workout gear.

Dick’s announced today that it’ll be cutting back on items from Adidas and Reebok (which is also owned … [More]

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Dick’s Sporting Goods wants you to show people your armpits just like Carrie.

The Adidas section at your local Dick’s Sporting Goods stores might seem a bit smaller soon, as the company has decided to hitch its apple wagon to a celebrity star and turn the spotlight on its new line of women’s workout gear.

Dick’s announced today that it’ll be cutting back on items from Adidas and Reebok (which is also owned by Adidas), to make room for a line of fitness clothing launching Thursday called Calia by Carrie Underwood, reports the Wall Street Journal.

(For those not in the know, Underwood is an American Idol winner and country singer/star famous person.)

Dick’s Chief Executive Ed Stack said Calia is going to be the main focus this spring season, as other apparel makers try to step up their women’s sportswear offerings as well.

Because anyone who’s ever worn yoga pants knows they’re not just for the workout — no way, soft pants (or any “athleisure” items) are for any time you darn well please. And retailers know this.

“This is a category that’s a terrific category right now,” Stack told the WSJ.

Adidas, which was passed by Under Armour last year for the No. 2 largest athletic gear maker by retail sales behind Nike, didn’t provide a comment regarding the section shrinkage to the WSJ.

]]>http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/dicks-sporting-goods-ditching-some-adidas-merchandise-in-favor-of-new-celebrity-line/feed/0marybethquirkconsumeristDick's Sporting Goods wants you to show people your armpits just like Carrie.Chase Hit With $50 Million Settlement Over Robosigned Mortgage Documentshttp://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/chase-hit-with-50-million-settlement-over-robosigned-mortgage-documents/
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/chase-hit-with-50-million-settlement-over-robosigned-mortgage-documents/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:27:22 +0000http://consumerist.com/?p=10197469The nation’s biggest banks have already been hit with billions of dollars in settlements over robosigning — the illegal process of signing and filing important mortgage documents without reviewing them for accuracy — so what’s a few million more? Today, the Justice Dept. announced a settlement with JPMorgan Chase that will require the bank to pay more than $50 million … [More]]]>

The nation’s biggest banks have already been hit with billions of dollars in settlements over robosigning — the illegal process of signing and filing important mortgage documents without reviewing them for accuracy — so what’s a few million more? Today, the Justice Dept. announced a settlement with JPMorgan Chase that will require the bank to pay more than $50 million in cash, mortgage credits, and loan forgiveness, to over 25,000 currently and recently bankrupt homeowners.

As part of the deal, which requires court approval, Chase acknowledges more than 50,000 bankruptcy court filings that were signed, under penalty of perjury, by people who had not actually reviewed the documents for accuracy.

According to the DOJ, more than 25,000 of these payment change notices were signed with the names of former Chase employees or of employees who had nothing to do with reviewing the accuracy of the filings. The remaining notices were signed by employees of a third-party vendor unrelated to checking the accuracy of these filings.

“It is shocking that the conduct admitted to by Chase in this settlement, including the filing of tens of thousands of documents in court that never had been reviewed by the people who attested to their accuracy, continued as long as it did,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F. Delery in a statement.

The $50+ million breaks down as follows:

• $22.4 million in credits and second lien forgiveness to about 400 homeowners who received inaccurate payment increase notices during their bankruptcy cases.

• $10.8 million to more than 12,000 homeowners in bankruptcy through credits or refunds for payment increases or decreases that were not timely filed in bankruptcy court and noticed to the homeowners.

• $4.8 million to more than 18,000 homeowners who did not receive accurate and timely escrow statements. This includes credits for taxes and insurance owed by the homeowners and paid by Chase during periods covered by escrow statements that were not timely filed and transmitted to homeowners.

• $4.9 million, through payment of approximately $600 per loan, to more than 8,000 homeowners whose escrow payments Chase may have applied in a manner inconsistent with escrow statements it provided to the homeowners.

• $7.5 million contribution to the American Bankruptcy Institute’s endowment for financial education and support for the Credit Abuse Resistance Education Program.

Chase also agrees to make internal changes to its technology, policies, and procedures to prevent this from happening again.

An independent private-sector reviewer has been assigned to verify that Chase complies with the settlement order.

The settlement does not prohibit affected homeowners from taking legal actions or seeking additional relief from Chase.

]]>http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/chase-hit-with-50-million-settlement-over-robosigned-mortgage-documents/feed/0chrismorranconsumerist(Dan Coulter)Bank Of America To Pay $155K To Settle Claim It Discriminated Against Hearing-Impaired Customerhttp://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/bank-of-america-to-pay-155k-to-settle-claim-it-discriminated-against-hearing-impaired-customer/
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/bank-of-america-to-pay-155k-to-settle-claim-it-discriminated-against-hearing-impaired-customer/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:10:54 +0000http://consumerist.com/?p=10197443Financial institutions have a somewhat checkered past when it comes to accommodating consumers with hearing disabilities. There was Citibank’s demand that a hearing-impaired customer call them to clear up a suspicious transaction only to be hung up on repeatedly or there was the Chase rep that didn’t think deaf people could have credit cards. Now this week, Bank of … [More]]]>

Financial institutions have a somewhat checkered past when it comes to accommodating consumers with hearing disabilities. There was Citibank’s demand that a hearing-impaired customer call them to clear up a suspicious transaction only to be hung up on repeatedly or there was the Chase rep that didn’t think deaf people could have credit cards. Now this week, Bank of America agreed to settle allegations it denied a loan modification after ignoring a customer’s request that the bank email her rather than force her to talk on the phone.

KSTP-TV reports that Bank of America will pay $155,000 to settle claims it discriminated against a hearing-impaired Minnesota woman due to her disability.

The complaint, filed with the Minnesota Human Rights Department, stems from a 2012 incident in which the woman asked the bank to communicate with her about a $140,000 loan modification solely through email.

The woman tell KSTP that because she has suffered from severe hearing loss since birth, phone conversations weren’t an option when working with the bank.

“Especially when you’re dealing with important information like your financing, I don’t want to be doing the, ‘What did you say?’ ‘I couldn’t hear that. Could you say that again?'” the woman says.

At first the bank complied with the request, but it eventually stopped correspondence and denied the modification.

“I sent him emails— ‘Did you get my fax? Are you getting my emails?’ Nothing,” the woman tells KSTP. “And then, all of a sudden, I got a letter saying they denied me for my modification because they didn’t have all of the information they needed from me.”

The woman says her husband reached out to the bank for clarification on the denial. A representative for the bank said a supervisor instructed him not to email the woman because it wasn’t in the bank’s policy.

According to the Minnesota Human Rights Department, the denial of the loan modification was attributable to the bank’s refusal to reasonably accommodate the woman’s request for email communications. The Minnesota Human Rights Act prohibits businesses that offer credit and loans from discriminating against customers who have a disability.

The woman and her family ultimately received a loan modification that allowed them to keep their home.

Under the settlement, Bank of America – which doesn’t admit wrongdoing – must provide $155,000 in payments to the woman, her attorney and the state.

Additionally, the company must provide training to its staff regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act and to always make email an option for the hearing-impaired.

A spokesperson for Bank of America says the company does not discriminate and complies with ADA.

“We provide equal access to company facilities, services, and employment opportunities and treat all employees with disabilities with dignity and respect and offer the same access to opportunities afforded those without disabilities,” the spokesperson says.

]]>http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/bank-of-america-to-pay-155k-to-settle-claim-it-discriminated-against-hearing-impaired-customer/feed/0ashleekielerconsumerist(Mike Mozart) Police In New Hampshire Town Issuing Tickets Good For Free Pizza And French Frieshttp://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/police-in-new-hampshire-town-issuing-tickets-good-for-free-pizza-and-french-fries/
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/police-in-new-hampshire-town-issuing-tickets-good-for-free-pizza-and-french-fries/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:02:30 +0000http://consumerist.com/?p=10197457I’m halfway out the door already: Police in a New Hampshire town are rewarding residents for good behavior by issuing them with tickets that are good for free pizza and French fries. I repeat: FREE PIZZA AND FRENCH FRIES.

Winter has been tough in Farmington, N.H., so the police department thought it might be nice to make people happy for … [More]

I’m halfway out the door already: Police in a New Hampshire town are rewarding residents for good behavior by issuing them with tickets that are good for free pizza and French fries. I repeat: FREE PIZZA AND FRENCH FRIES.

Winter has been tough in Farmington, N.H., so the police department thought it might be nice to make people happy for getting through the season, reports WMUR.com.

Cops are now roving the town, on the lookout for good citizens to reward with calorie-laden, delicious prizes.

“We’ll be looking not only for people in violation of our laws in the state of New Hampshire, but we’ll also be looking out for people that are following the law – using crosswalks, driving properly, using turn signals,” Chief John Drury of the Farmington Police Department told WMUR.

Residents won’t have to go through the dread of being pulled over with lights or sirens, however — cops will make sure to hand out gift cards safely. Those cards have been donated by a local restaurant, which saw the opportunity to bring people in adfer the chief offered to pay for them all.

“We’ll know that they’re good and they can get a free small fry or grab a slice of pizza – whatever the coupon entitles them to – and they can get on with their day,” a manager at the restaurant told the station. “It’s definitely the best ticket to be getting around here. That’s for sure.”

The original plan for the droolworthy tickets was limited to just March, but police said they might repeat the project in the future if all goes well this time around. What can go wrong when pizza and French fries get together? I’ll let you answer that yourself.

]]>http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/police-in-new-hampshire-town-issuing-tickets-good-for-free-pizza-and-french-fries/feed/0marybethquirkconsumeristThis is what fries look like, sometimes. (Dyanna Hyde)Fab.com Brand Sold For Maybe $15 Million-ish, Spinoff Still Sells Furniturehttp://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/fab-com-brand-sold-for-maybe-15-million-ish-spinoff-still-sells-furniture/
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/fab-com-brand-sold-for-maybe-15-million-ish-spinoff-still-sells-furniture/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:42:43 +0000http://consumerist.com/?p=10197423You may remember Fab.com from when people were posting affiliate links from them to your Facebook feed almost constantly. The company was massively successful as part of the recession-era flash-sale boom, combining discounts with well-curated products. That model led the company to have hundreds of employees and a $1 billion valuation. Then that business collapsed. Now the Fab.com brand has … [More]]]>You may remember Fab.com from when people were posting affiliate links from them to your Facebook feed almost constantly. The company was massively successful as part of the recession-era flash-sale boom, combining discounts with well-curated products. That model led the company to have hundreds of employees and a $1 billion valuation. Then that business collapsed. Now the Fab.com brand has been sold for…well, the companies involved aren’t disclosing how much the final sale price is.

That makes a simple and easily digestible story, doesn’t it? An e-commerce company had a quick rise, raised hundreds of millions of dollars in investments, and then collapsed, eventually selling the remnants of its business in a fire sale to another company before a quiet, dignified death. That’s not really what happened here, though. While we don’t know how much the Fab.com business sold for, the original figure agreed upon last year was $15 million. The part of the site that used to sell items with cool designs survives, and thats what has been sold to PCH, a custom manufacturing company.

Many of Fab’s resources and employees went to spinoff company Hem, a European-based furniture company that aims to be like, as far as we can tell, a higher-end IKEA.

Some quick background: The patient complained on Yelp and elsewhere that the dentist had overcharged him and screwed up submitting his claims to his insurer.

The dentist, citing an agreement the patient had signed, demanded the reviews be removed because they “are not considered constructive commentaries but rather as personal attacks to the office’s well-being and reputation.”

The patient refused, resulting in invoices for $100 charges for each day the reviews remained online.

In an attempt to get the write-ups taken down, the dentist claimed copyright ownership of the content under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but the patient countered that the reviews were protected fair use speech.

According to the default judgement [PDF] by a U.S. District Court in NYC last week, the judge concurs, saying that the prohibition against negative criticism, along with the use of copyright claims to prevent these reviews from being seen “constitute breaches of fiduciary duty and violations of dental ethics and are subject to the equitable defenses of unclean hands, and, as to such assignment and assertion, constitute copyright misuse.”